Market News: Apple, Electronic Arts, Yahoo

The stock markets in the United States declined again today amid lingering concerns regarding the prospect of the global economy. The decline of the equities of tech companies such as Apple also negatively impacted the stock markets today.

The West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude future gained 4% earlier, but eventually dropped 0.56% to $37.30 per barrel.

In an interview with Bloomberg, Walter Todd, chief investment officer at Greenwood Capital Associates, commented, “The market, in general, seems to be following commodities, specifically oil, and when it rolled back over into negative territory the market seemed to follow.”

Todd added that the market is struggling to find a direction given the fact that there is a “very little out there that’s actionable beyond the Fed meeting.”

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Yesterday, the equity markets dropped due to the weak trade data from China, which reignited worries about the global economic growth.
Meanwhile, investors expect the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates at its meeting on December 16.

Patrick Spencer, vice chairman of equities at Robert W. Baird & Co., said, “Investors are now prepared for a rate hike, and it is discounted and the economy can handle it. That will put confidence back in the market and the economy will continue to do well in 2016.”

U.S. Markets

Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) – 17, 492.30(-0.43%)

S&P 500- 2,047.62 (-0.77%)

NASDAQ- 5,022.87 (-1.48%)

Russell 2000- 1,145.90 (-1.16%)

European Markets

EURO STOXX 50 Price EUR- 3,277.21 (-0.61%)

FTSE 100 Index- 6,126.68 (-0.14%)

Deutsche Borse AG German Stock Index DAX- 10,592.49 (-0.76%)

Asia-Pacific Markets

Nikkei 225- 19,301.07 (-0.98%)

Hong Kong Hang Seng Index- 21,803.76 (-0.46%)

Shanghai Shenzhen CSI 300 Index- 3,635.94 (-0.36%)

Stocks in Focus

The stock price of Apple declined more than 2% to $115.62 per share. The Fair Trade Commission in South Korea will investigate the tech giant’s relationship with local repair companies to determine if they violated consumers ’rights. The regulator received complaints regarding Apple’s repair service.

Electronic Arts dropped more than 5% to $67.09 per share. The company’s stock was negatively impacted by the decision of GameStop to reduce prices for the game “Star Wars: Battlefront.”

The shares of Yahoo closed $34.40 per share, down by more than 1%. The company abandoned its plan to spin off its stake in Alibaba Group Holdings amid pressures from activist investors, who are worried about the tax risks of the transaction. Yahoo is now considering creating a separate publicly traded company to hold the assets.